A writer's life and work in New England.

Writing Content that Customers Want

The following is an excerpt from our upcoming book, The Little Book of Social Media: 60 Ways to Create an Amazing Customer Experience. I’m excited to say that we will be launching the book next month! In the meantime, here is a sneak peek of one of our tips:

Tip #26. Give them what they want!

Certain content types tend to be more popular with users. Here are some tried-and-true options:

Solve a problem. Is there a common issue your customers face? For example, if you are a pest control company and it’s mosquito season, can you post some tips to help your customers combat mosquitoes or film a video showing customers how to pest-proof their yard?

Teach or educate. Help people learn about something they’re interested in. For example, if you’re a history-related organization, talk about a historical event that happened on this day 100 years ago. Or if you sell foreign language software, post a new vocabulary word or translation each day.

Provide a list. Everyone loves a list (articles that are made up of lists have become so popular that they have a nickname – “listicles”). Sites like Buzzfeed deal almost exclusively in lists. For example, you might post an article called “5 Ways to Save Money on Your Car” or “The 10 Best TV Comedies.”

Interview someone. Whether your subject is one of your employees or a famous person in your industry, interviews tend to be popular because people are naturally curious about other people.

Use statistics and quotes. Readers often respond to quick, easily digestible facts like statistics about your industry (or about something fun and trivial). Inspirational quotes are also popular.

More stories to share with your fans and followers:

Causes or charities your organization supports, and why those causes are important to you.

Stories that customers have given you permission to share with others (for example, inspirational stories about overcoming personal adversity or ingenious new uses they have found for your product).

Experiences that have inspired your team to be creative or have taught you valuable lessons.